Mesothelioma – Prevention Measures

Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the mesothelium due to exposure to asbestos and figures reveal that more than 2000 cases are registered every year.  If you want to prevent mesothelioma, you have to ensure that the root cause of the disease, which is asbestos is totally banned.  Since most of the registered cases of this disease are linked to occupation, prevention must begin by isolating the sources of asbestos and eliminating them.
Some high risk occupations need to be particularly aware of the consequences of this exposure to asbestos and should take adequate precautions.  They are painters, brick layers, drywall contractors, miners and mechanics.  Other occupations include those in the manufacture of fireproofing, plumbing, floor tiles and cement.  Many personnel in the rail yards, ship yards and oil refineries are equally at risk of asbestos exposure.  In short, people in the building industry need to be very aware and careful about this hazard that they are continuously exposed to and need to take not only adequate precautions but also conduct regular check ups.
Workers in these fields are duly covered under strict workplace regulations and the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration have put in place some stringent rules to ensure the safety and well being of these workers.  However, some fibers of asbestos may still stick itself to hair, skin and the clothing and when this is brought home; family members are also put at risk.  Federal laws thus mandate that certain precautions are followed by the workmen prior to leaving for their homes such as:
•    Taking a shower
•    Not taking work related clothing home
•    Ensuring that the workmen change to street clothing ahead of leaving the place of work
•    Making sure that the work related clothing is properly washed at the place of work and not taken home
The above measures have ensured the control of mesothelioma spreading through the secondary route to the family members of the workmen.

History of Mesothelioma

The onset of the 20^th century saw hectic building activity at construction sites, ship yards, rail yards. Asbestos fibers were used as a major component and its production was also stepped up to meet the ever increasing demand. Mankind got exposed to asbestos in its early years of development and very soon, incidents of lung cancer also came to be reported. However, the condition of mesothelioma is believed to have its origins at places where wastes from mine extraction containing a lot of asbestos fibers were used as dumping material to envelop playgrounds and other open spaces. It was around this time that people who had practically no chance of getting exposed to asbestos fibers started developing symptoms of this disease. Though many officials were aware of the potential dangerous effects of asbestos mining much earlier, the activity continued and was formally brought to a close only in 1966.

During those times, mines were permitted to operate without basic safeguards and the concept of hygienic and safe work practices were relatively unknown. Due to this lack of adequate safety nets, many workmen began experiencing symptoms of mesothelioma on a yearly basis. What was more worrying was the fact that many cases that were diagnosed were of people who got it through the secondary route, having not been exposed to asbestos directly.

Mesothelioma saw its first case at an Australian mine and that worker had been working in that mine for about three years. Things then began to deteriorate rapidly as people inhabiting the town where asbestos mining was being carried out started exhibiting symptoms and this continued well into the 1970s, when the Australian Government took a long pending decision to shut it down. Unfortunately, the damage had been done and many people had fallen prey to this dangerous disease.

The tragedy just highlights the fact that if proper safeguards in the working environment had been implemented at that time, history would have had a different story to tell.